Villupuram suicides: Madras High Court orders fresh autopsy

The Madras High Court on Wednesday ordered another autopsy on one of the students who had allegedly committed suicide in Villupuram in Tamil Nadu. The High Court gave the go-ahead for fresh autopsy after it heard the plea by the parents of one of the girls, Monisha.

The court said the medical team conducting the postmortem should include a doctor of the parents' choice.

Monisha's father has alleged foul play in his daughter's death and filed a petition seeking a fresh postmortem. The family has refused to take possession of the body.

The bodies of the three students of SSV College of Naturopathy and Yoga Sciences were removed from a well opposite the college on Saturday.

Principal surrenders in Chennai, sent to judicial custody

Days after three SSV college students allegedly committed suicide, the head of their college surrendered in a court in the state capital earlier this week and was arrested along with two others, including its principal. Vasuki Subramanian, head of the Kallakurichi-based naturopahty and yoga college, surrendered before a court here and was remanded to judicial custody, police said.

Three students of SVS Yoga Medical College at Kallakurichi near Villupuram in Tamil Nadu committed suicide Saturday evening accusing the administration of charging excess fees and “torture”, and blaming college chairman Vasuki Subramanian for their death.

“After questioning, we have arrested Kalanidhi (college principal) and Suvagur Varma, (adminstrator and son of Vasuki Subramanian) and they were produced before a court which remanded them to judicial custody,” a senior police official told reporters. He said the probe was still on and they were on the look out for some more persons in connection with the case.

The father of one of the girls, Tamilarasan, moved a petition on Monday in the Madras High Court, seeking a CB-CID inquiry and post-mortem in a state-run hospital in Chennai. He had also requested that a doctor of his choice be present during autopsy.

Meanwhile, the Registrar of the TN Dr MGR Medical University, Dr P Arumugam told reporters, “we have not given affilation to the BNYS and BHMS courses of the Kallakurichi-based college for 2015-16 till date”.

On Saturday, three second-year girl students committed suicide alleging exorbitant fees and harassment by their college. The triple suicide snowballed into a major issue with political parties demanding tough action. The college was sealed on Sunday. Expressing suspicion on the manner of their deaths, the girls’ parents had filed complaints claiming that their daughters were murdered.

In the Madras High Court, meanwhile, Justice M M Sunderesh before whom Tamilarasan’s, (Monisha’s father) petition came up for hearing today, directed the registry to post it before another court dealing with petitions of a similar nature. DMDK chief and leader of Opposition, Vijayakanth, demanded a CBI inquriy into the matter.

The college has only courses which are BNYS (Bachelor of Naturopathy and Yogic Sciences) and BHMS (Bachelor of Homoeopathic Medicine and Surgery).